A New Year and a Fresh Start

The start of every new year is daunting. There’s an expectation to create goals and resolutions. An overwhelming sense of optimism fills the air, as people around the globe are hopeful to start the new year with a fresh perspective. This collective and overtly human tendency to hope for brighter pastures is what makes humans so endearing. As we head into the new year, it is vital to remember the things that make us human. The breath in our lungs. Our interactions with others. The act of putting pen to paper.

Finding Humanity in a Digital Age

As technology continues to move forward and exciting innovations are presented to us daily, we must consider whether all these innovations serve us or lead us further away from our goals and values. Artificial intelligence, or AI, has become a household buzzword, but for us PLOTTERs, how do we continue to innovate without losing the essence of what it means to be human? How can we shape tomorrow in a way that is authentic to our human spirit?

At PLOTTER, we value creativity and innovation. Two things that are innately human and two tenets that hold steadfast in the things we create. While new technologies like AI may seem like desirable tools to help us achieve those ends, we believe that it is still our five human senses and imagination that can truly spark creativity and innovation. After all, it is an innately human tendency for us to create and seek change.

Creativity throughout History

Throughout history, humanity has achieved extraordinary things without artificial intelligence. The pyramids. The Renaissance. The Industrial Revolution. Medical discoveries that saved millions. Literary masterpieces that moved generations. All of this innovation stemmed from uniquely human qualities: curiosity, imagination, perseverance, and the tangible act of creation. Yet now, as digital tools promise to “enhance” our creativity, we find ourselves more anxious and distracted than ever. Research has shown that excessive social media use and constant digital engagement correlate with increased anxiety and decreased well-being (Hunt et al., 2018). Perhaps the solution isn’t more technology to combat technology’s effects, but rather a deliberate step backward. To retrieve analog practices that have sustained human creativity for millennia.

A Place of Digital Respite

When the digital world encroaches on our peace, we hope that you remember that PLOTTER can become a place of digital respite. A place to quiet the digital chaos we encounter daily. Notifications. Spam emails. Texts. Ads. All of these micro reminders of the digital world that infiltrate our day-to-day lives seem so natural to us, but we fail to see how these small interactions can truly affect us. When we retreat to analog spaces, we can momentarily put a pause on those digital interactions and truly be present in the current moment.

Feel the weight of your favorite pen as you write on smooth paper. Jot down a fun memory from yesterday. Rant about the horrible day you had today. Slowly and methodically write these feelings in cursive handwriting. Pause to flip and read through your past thoughts and musings. Re-arrange the pages in your PLOTTER to better suit your needs for the day. All these things take you out of the abstract digital world and force you to confront the very real and tactile analog environment in front of you. As you feel the paper, leather, and maybe some ink staining your fingers, you realize that a whole other world exists outside of the black glass screens we stare at for many parts of our day.

A New Year to be Present

This year, let your resolution be simple: choose presence over productivity. Choose the analog ritual of pen meeting paper over the endless scroll. PLOTTER isn’t just a tool but an invitation to reclaim the quiet moments that make us human. In a world that demands constant digital connection, give yourself permission to digitally disconnect and create something that exists beyond the screen.

Draw today, shape tomorrow

References

Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751-768.